The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-01-12
FITS CHI
General A~le~andcr's Article on thn BattI,
of Gettysburg In january Century.

are articles on he third days tight at
Gettysburg, by General I'll. j. Hunt and
T.. +. Alexander. From the ~latter's ac-
count of Pickott's charge we quote as
follows: cat exactly one o'clock by my
watch the two signal guns were heard in
quick succession. In another minute
every gun was at work. The enemy was
not slow i'll coming back at us, and the
grand o n of nearly the whole artillery
OF both armies burst in OH the silence
almost as suddenly as the full notes of
an organ could fill IL church.
The artillery OF Ewell's corps, how
ever, took only II small part, / believe,
IN this, as they were too far away around
the town. Some of them might have
done good service from positions be-
tween Hill and Ewcll, entilading the
batteries lighting us. The opportunity
to do that was the single advantage in
our having the exterior line to compcn-
safe for it's disadvantages. But our line
was SO far extended that all of it was not
well studied, and the officers of each
corps had no opportunity to examine
each others ground for chances of CO.
operative work.
Tile cncmy's position seemed to have
broken out with guns everywhere, and
from Round Top to Cemetery Fill was
bIaHin% like u volcano. The air seemed
full o.! missiles from every direction.
The severity OF thcfircmay be illustrated
by the casualties in my own battalion
under Major Iiugcr.
"Bctorc the cannunadu opened | had
made mp my mind to give Pickett the
order to advance within fifteen ortwcnty
minutes after it began. but when 1
looked al the full development OF tue
cmcmy's batteries, and knew that his in
lnutry was generally protected from our
fire 10y stone walls and swClls of the
ground, could not bring myself to give
thc word. 1t seemed madness to launch
infantry into that fire, with ncally three
quarters Of II mile to 30 in the midday
july sun. J let the fifteen minutes pass,
and twenty, and TWEEN y-tiyc, hoping
vainly for something 10 turn up. Then
! wrote to Pickett: of you arc coming
ut all you must come at OucC, OF | can
not CIV" you proper support; but the
enemy 5 lire has not Siackcncd at all; at
least eighteen guns are still firing from
the cemetery itself" Five minutes after
sending that message, the cncmy'S fire
suddenly began to slackcu, and the guns
IN the cemetery Ilmbcrcd up and vacated
the position.
"Wo Confcdcratcs often dill such
things rs that to save our ammunition
Tor use against infantry, but | hat never
before seen the Fcdcals withdraw their
guns SIMPLY to save tbcm up for the
infantry fight. SO | said, III Inc does
not run fresh batteries III there i'll five
minutes, this is our light looked
anXIously with my glass, and the five
minutes passed without u sign Of life on
the deserted position, still sweptby our
fire, and Uttered with dead mon and
horses and fragments OF disabled CARR
age. Then ! wrote Pickett, u~r.Eently:
For Gods sake, come quick. The
eighteen guns are gone; comc quick, or
my ammunition wont let me support
yon properly
81 afterwards heard from others what
took place with my first note to Pickett.
"Plckctt took it to Longstrcct. Long
street read 1t, and SAID nothing. Pickett
said, General, shall | advance Long
street, Knowing it had to be, but unwlll-
ing to give the word, turned lis face
away. Pickett salutcd and said, Il am
going TO move forward, Sir, gallupcd off
to his division and Immediately put it in
motion.
"Longatr,a', leaving his star, came
out alone to Nhere / was. It was then
about l.i0 p. m. explained the situa-
ton, feeling then more hopeful, but
afraid IL artillery ammunition might
not hold out for all we would want.
LOngstrect said, stop Pickett, immcdi-
atcly, and replcnish your ammunition
| explained that it would take too long,
and rho nnntn,r y,n,ll ,.,,,,.,. e., n
elect our fire was then having, and we
had, moreover, very little to rcplcnish
with. l4ongstrcct said, i don't want to
make this attack. would stop it now
but Nat General Lee ordered it and ex-
poets 1t to go on. | don't see how it can
succeed
81 listened but did not dare oiter a
word. The battle was lost if we stopped.
Ammunition WAS far too low to try any
thing else, for we had been lighting
three dfys. There was II chance, and it
was not my part to interfere. While
Longstreet was still speaking, Pickctt's
division swept out Of the wood and
showed the full length Of its gray ranks
and shining %bayonets, as grand II sight
as ever a man looked on. Joining it Oh
the left, Pcttigrcw stretched farther than
could see. General Dick Garnctt, lust
ont Of the sick ambulance, and buttoned
up in an old blue oycrcoat, riding mt tho
head Of his brigade, passed us and sa-
luted Longstreet. G&rnett was a warm
personal friend, and we had not met be-
fore Tor months. We had served on the
plains together before the war. | rode
with him q short distance, and then we
wished each other luck and a goodbye
which was our last.
"rhen ! rode down the line of guns,
selecting such as Lad enough ammuni
ton to follow Pickett's advance, and
starting them as fast as possible. | got,
L think, fifteen or eighteen in a little
while, and went on with them. Mean
while, the infantry had no sooner de-
bouched on the plain than all the
enemy's line, which had been nearly
silent, broke out again with all It's bat
teries. The eighteen guns wcro back in
the cemetery, and a storm of shells be
gan bursting over and among orr in
fantry. All of IL guns, silent as the
infantry passed between them. reOpened